This invention refers to a foaming apparatus for refrigerator cabinets and the like, comprising a foaming jig provided with a device for automatically changing the plug member, so as to rapidly adapt the apparatus to the type or model of refrigerator cabinet to be produced.
There are known foaming apparatus for refrigerator cabinets and the like, comprising a foaming jig capable of containing a refrigerator cabinet whose walls must be provided with an insulating layer of foamed plastic material; the jig is supported movable from a lowered position, for loading and unloading the cabinets, to a raised position, for the foaming, in correspondence with an overhead plug member which is brought into contact with the internal walls of the cabinet to be formed. A foaming jig is usually composed of a base for supporting the refrigerator cabinet, and movable outer walls, which cooperate with an internal plug member to oppose the thrust that the insulating foam exerts on the internal and external walls of the cabinet and which would tend to deform it. The supporting base and/or the outer walls are made adjustable in order to vary the dimensions of the jig and to adapt it each time to the different type or model of refrigerator cabinets to be produced.
Beside the general problem of adjusting the foaming jig, there is also the particular problem of replacing the plug member at each changeover in production.
The foaming apparatuses of the aforementioned kind are currently provided with a single plug member, suspended from a suitable supporting structure; consequently, at each changeover in production it is necessary to stop the apparatus for prolonged periods of time in order to enable the operators to remove the old plug member and to replace it with a new one. The operation of replacing the plug member consequently entails considerable delays in production, not only due to the length of the actual operation of disassembling and refitting the plug member, but also due to the need to position it precisely each time, after fitting it, with respect to the foaming jig.
A scope of this invention is to provide a foaming apparatus for refrigerator cabinets and the like, of the aforesaid type, which makes it possible to rapidly change one plug member with another, without having to disassemble and refit the plug members themselves, thereby reducing down times of the apparatus to a minimum.
A further scope of the invention is to provide a foaming apparatus as mentioned previously, which is extremely versatile, and in which the changing of one plug member with another occurs automatically, within the space of a few seconds, and can be programmed or controlled by an operator.